Hybrid rose plant named `Chrisnusp`

ABSTRACT

A hybrid rose plant having upright, vigorous growth intermediate between the grandiflora and miniature classes; fully double flowers of variable cream, pink and red hues; healthy dark green, lightly glossy foliage; and relatively few prickles on proportionately long stems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid rose cultivarintermediate between the Grandiflora and Miniature classes, which wasoriginated by me by crossing an unnamed seedling of Love (U.S. PlantPat. No. 4,437)×Picasso (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,351), with an unnamedseedling of Bluhwunder×MORpints.

The primary objective of this breeding was to produce a floriferouscultivar with red and white flowers that have both the striping ofMORpints and the "banded" characteristics of Picasso.

This objective was substantially achieved, along with other desirableimprovements, as evidenced by the following unique combination ofcharacteristics which are outstanding in my new variety and whichdistinguish it from its parents as well as from all other varieties ofwhich I am aware. For example, this new rose variety has:

1. Fully double red and cream flowers with variable blotching andbanding and occasional striping;

2. A vigorous, upright growth habit which is intermediate between theMiniature and Grandiflora classes;

3. Long stems of good cutting quality;

4. Relatively few prickles.

The foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form viaasexual reproduction and are established and transmitted throughsucceeding propagations by budding doen at Wasco, Calif., and bycuttings made at Ontario, Calif.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying illustration shows typical specimens of the flowers andvegetative growth of this new variety in different stages ofdevelopment, depicted in color as nearly true as it is reasonablypossible to make the same in a color portrayal of this nature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following is a detailed description of my new rose variety, whichhas been given the denomination "CHRisnusp". Throughout thisspecification, color names beginning with a small letter convey ordinarydictionary significance for the color, while color names beginning witha capital letter designate values based on The Royal HorticulturalSociety Colour Chart, London, England.

The specimens used in making this description were grown outdoors atOntario, Calif., in the month of May.

FLOWERS

The blooming habit is recurrent. The bud size is approximatelythree-fourths inch in length when the petals start to unfurl.

The bud form is ovoid.

The bud color when sepals first separate varies between cream and OrangeGroup 24D as the base color, overlaid with near Red Group 53A whereexposed to sunlight.

When the bud is half open, the color on the upper side of the petals iscream, near Orange Group 19D, on the lower one third of the petal, anddeep pink between Red Group 52A, and Red Group 54A on the outertwo-thirds of the petal; while on the lower side of the petals it isbetween a creamy light pink near Red Group 38B and a deep pink near RedGroup 51A.

The sepals vary from green to purple green in color. Their outer surfaceis smooth with scattered stipitate glands, while the inner surface isuniformly covered with a fine wooly tomentum; there are three lightlyappendaged sepals and two unappendaged sepals with hairy edges.

The receptacle is near Yellow Green Group 144A in color and has acylindrical-funnel shape, a smooth surface and is average in size.

The peduncle is relatively erect, of thin to average caliper, relativelylong, and has a smooth surface with a few tiny prickles and stipitateglands; its color is light green to near Greyed Purple 187A.

The bud opens relatively slowly.

BLOOM

Bloom size is relatively small for the size of the bush, with an averageopen diameter of nearly two and one half inches. The blooms are bornesingly and and in irregular clusters.

The stems are long and of normal strength.

When first open, the flower is high-centered in form, and the centerremains pointed until the bloom is about half opened. The petals, whichare moderately heavy in texture and broadly obovate in shape, averagebetween 25 and 32 in number, and surround the pistils in layered andraised circular imbrications with a few irregular petaloids near thecenter.

When blooms are freshly opened, flower color, in general, is pink, nearRed Group 55A, resulting from the combination of creamy veins and lightred interveinal patches in the central area of the bloom, darkening moreuniformly toward the perimeter to near Red Group 53B.

After three days the overall color effect is reddish, between Red Group57A and Red Group 53B.

In newly opened flowers, the upper side of most petals is pink andcream, the inner third of the petals and many veins being cream, and theouter two-thirds being a mottled pink, between Red Group 55A and RedGroup 53B, while the under side of most petals is cream to light pink,near Red Group 55D. Toward the base of the petals on both sides thecolor is light yellow, near Yellow Group 10D.

When the bloom is three days old, the color on the upper side of mostpetals is nearly white in the inner third, overlaid first in blotchesthen solidly toward the margin, where exposed to sunlight, with lightred between Red Group 57A and Red Group 53B; the color on the reverseside of most petals is near white.

Colors are modified at times by being blotched, shaded, and/or stripedwith other colors.

The fragrance is light.

The blooms drop off cleanly, and last both on the plant and as cutflowers for a relatively long time.

REPRODUCTIVE PARTS

The anthers are abundant and small in size. The filaments are lightgolden yellow. The pollen is golden yellow. The stigmas are plate greenin color, while their styles are light green, becoming a transulucentpink just under the stigmas.

PLANT

The plant becomes an upright bush, about three to three-and-a-half feetin height, and vigorous in growth.

FOLIAGE

The foliage is medium in size and abundant. New foliage is reddishgreen, and mature foliage is deep green with a lightly semi-glossysurface. A normal mid-stem leaf has five leaflets which are widelyseparated.

The leaflets are ovate in shape with a pointed apex; they are fairlyleathery in texture, and their margins are finely and irregularlyserrate.

The petiole rachis is green, sometimes with purple highlights, and has afew very small prickles on the underside and some stipitate glands alongthe edges of the grooved upper surface.

Stipules are serrated and of average length.

The foliage has better than average disease resistance, particularlywith respect to mildew, under normal growing conditions at Ontario,Calif.

STEM

Newly developing stems are purplish or bronzy and sometimes have a fewtiny prickles and/or stipitate glands. Stems that have borne flowers aregreen to purplish. Older, mature wood is green to gray with a roughbark.

There are very few large prickles and a few small prickles on the mainbasal canes and on the laterals to the blooming stems. These pricklesare brown to gray in color, and are hooked slightly downward.

Young prickles on new growth are purplish in color.

PARENTAGE

The seed parent was an unnamed, undissemianted Grandiflora seedlingwhich resulted from the cross of Love×Picasso and which displayed theseasonal floral "banding" that is characteristic of its pollen parent.

The pollen parent was a different unnamed, undisseminated seedling, aminiature rose, which came from crossing Bluhwunder×MORpints and whichfeatured the variable striping characteristics of its pollen parent inthe flowers.

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of rose plant, substantially asshown and described herein, characterized particularly as to novelty byits unique combination of an upright, vigorous habit of growth,intermediate between the grandiflora and miniature classes; its fullydouble flowers of variable cream, pink and red hues; its healthy, darkgreen, lightly glossy foliage; and its relatively frw prickles onproportionately long stems.